Arithmancy Lessons
by xoxoPrincess.Ai
Summary: LJ. Lily needs a little help with Arithmancy, and who else to tutor her than the star student, James Potter?


Hey guys! It's been a while, huh? Well, here's my newest story, Arithmancy Lessons. I think this might not be my best work, but leave me reviews, kay?

I think Lily's a little OOC in this one at some parts, but I guess I had to do that to make it work. So bear with me!!

Arithmancy Lessons.

James pressed Lily harder against the dormitory wall, his lips still locked with hers. He pulled himself towards her so that his body was completely flush with hers. Lily moaned at the feeling, and her hands flew to his hair, her fingers entangling themselves in the silky, ebony locks. James' hands roamed her torso, slipping under her shirt every-so-often to touch her creamy skin. Their tongues continued their battle for domina— wait.

Hold up.

Stop for a second.

Now, how did Lily Evans, _the_ Lily Evans, end up in a position with the so-called 'bane of her existence', James Potter? Well, it all started when James was tutoring Lily for Arithmancy…

"But—you, but I… I… you… but… no… you…" James Potter stuttered as he stared at Lily Evans, bewildered.

Was this really happening?

Lily Evans, yes—_the_ Lily Evans, the-love-of-James-Potter Lily Evans, was asking him, James Potter, to tutor her.

In Arithmancy.

Not to say that Arithmancy was an easy subject; no, of course not. But it just so happens that James is the top student in their year. Asking for him to be your tutor would only be logical.

"Yea-yeah… okay…" James stared at Lily's determined, yet humiliated expression.

"Alright then, James. Tomorrow at the Heads' dormitories then?"

When James nodded, Lily started walking again, while James was still rooted to the spot. Now he knew what it felt like to be a plant. James ran a hand through his hair, still in slight shock, but soon followed the redhead when his legs regained feeling.

Their footsteps echoed loudly in the empty corridors of the second floor; they should be, because, after all, they _are_ on patrol.

With the tinkling voice still ringing in his ears, James quickly caught up to Lily.

The pair stopped immediately when they heard light footsteps from the front door of the castle. They bolted downstairs, but were, unfortunately, only met with silence and a pitch-black front entrance. James knew who it was, but he ran down the marble staircase and opened the front entrance door to check. He barely caught the fluffy tail of a black dog disappearing into the Forbidden Forest.

James glanced at the full moon for a moment, and quietly muttered a 'good luck' for his friend tonight. He felt Lily's presence behind him, and quickly shut the door before she could see what was happening.

"What was it?" came Lily's voice from behind him.

"O-Oh, it was nothing. Just… Sirius setting up our prank for tomorrow. That's all!" James shut the door quickly, hoping Lily wouldn't catch Sirius in animagus form… or worse, _Remus_ in werewolf form.

The rest of the patrol went smoothly; thankfully no one was still wandering around Hogwarts' corridors at midnight. Either that or they were pretty quiet.

Lily bid James goodnight when their paths separated at the hallway leading to the girls' room and boys' room at the Heads' dormitories.

Muttering a small goodnight in return, James sauntered to his door, exhausted from the day's events, but at the same time beaming from excitement.

"Okay! Ready, Lilykins?" James asked, winking playfully at his new student. Lily growled menacingly in return.

"Don't call me Lilykins, _Jamie_." She smirked, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

James grimaced slightly at his new nickname, and Lily's smirk turned into a triumphant smile. She giggled despite James glaring jokingly at her, and plopped down on the nearby couch, waiting for James to start his lesson.

James sat down on another seat perpendicular to the long couch Lily currently occupied.

"As you wish, Lily Flower." He grinned widely, as if seeing how far he could push her, but his smile dropped as soon as he heard a low growl from her. He chuckled nervously, now fully aware that Lily was ready to kill him at any time.

"Just start, James. We have a test in a few days and I plan to pass it." Lily said in an impatient voice, pulling out her Arithmancy homework from the day before and slapping it down on the small table in front of the two. She pulled her textbook out as well, flipping to the right page.

"Alright, alright! Patience is a virtue, Lily." James smiled a toothy smile at her.

"But enough joking around," Lily laughed at the irony of this as James continued.

"Okay, let's do this question here. It's easy; you're just predicting your own future. First, you use your name… L-I-L-Y E-VA-N-S. That translates to 3-9-3-7 5-4-1-5-1. You follow?"

Lily nodded obscurely, amazed at how easily James _got_ Arithmancy so easily. She stared at James as he ran his hand through his hair, making it even messier than it already was from Quidditch.

"So now," James continued, "you add all of the numbers." He paused, waiting for Lily to do the calculation.

Lily quickly counted in her head.

"That's… thirty-eight."

"Right. Now, factor the number, because it's greater than nine," James explained, giving Lily a chance, once again, to do a quick calculation. Lily scribbled her answer on a blank sheet of parchment – work paper – and showed James, who, in turn, grinned proudly.

Lily was learning… pretty fast for someone who needs a tutor. _But oh well. Any time spent with Lily Evans is time well spent._ James grinned inwardly at his thoughts, but continued to focus on Lily.

"Learning pretty quickly, eh Evans?" James raised an eyebrow, almost suspiciously towards Lily. Lily felt her face heating up gradually.

"Ye-yes, well… I was p-pretty good in math in elementary," she stuttered. James merely looked puzzled by what 'elementary' meant, but Lily stayed silent, signalling for him to continue instead of asking questions. James understood.

"Well… anyways, the first number means…" James trailed off, wanting Lily to answer.

"Character number," Lily replied without hesitation. "And the second and third numbers mean heart and social numbers, respectively." Lily finished, a light grin adorning her face, proud to have this knowledge.

James' eyes widened.

"Lil—err—_Evans_… I thought you needed tutoring." James asked, amused and bewildered.

"Err—yes, I do. I actually uhh… do rather badly on my own." Lily finished lamely, oddly without any snap in her voice, and then shrank back to her questions. The room was silent for a few moments, so Lily looked up to James, as if asking why he stopped teaching. When her gaze fell on him, he seemed to be immersed in his thoughts.

"Hey, Evans, why don't we make this… a little more interesting?" At this proposal Lily's eyes snapped to James' face, her eyebrow raising slowly, telling James that she wasn't interested.

"No, Potter. I asked you to t-tutor…" she said 'tutor' with a pained expression, "me because I needed to get better marks in Arithmancy, and I need those way-above-average marks if I want to be able to become an auror!" Lily huffed, slightly annoyed with James for trying to fool around while they were supposed to be studying.

"No need to freak, Evans." James smirked, and Lily growled at his choice of words. "I was just thinking… for every wrong answer you give me, I will give you a punishment. How's that sound?" His smugness grew, slightly irritating Lily.

"Why would I agree to something like that?" She snapped back. "We're _studying_, Potter, not playing games. Now can we _please_ just move on??"

"Alright, but you know… it's only fair we go by my rules." James' smirk grew. "So let's get started, shall we?" He whispered huskily into her ear, and a small tingle ran through Lily at the feeling of his breath tickling her ear.

Lily only glared, too exasperated to argue against James.

_Besides… how bad could it get?_

"Alright, so," James began again, "let's start with the history, since we have that test to worry about." Lily grimaced; the history of Arithmancy was her least favourite part, and happens to be the part that she has the least knowledge and interest about.

"Arithmancy was first used by the…?" He stopped, motioning for Lily to finish his sentence.

"Err… E-Europeans…?" She stuttered, unsure.

"Wrong." James' arm wrapped around Lily's small shoulders, and pulled her to the couch he was sitting on, making their elbows brush against each other lightly. Lily tensed at his touch.

"You finally found an appropriate punishment for me then." Lily grumbled.

But she didn't move away.

James brushed her comment off, and continued.

"The correct answer is the Greeks. And what did the Greeks call it, Lily Flower?" He said in an even voice, not affected in the slightest by their closeness.

"Uhh… divination… by numerals?"

"Correct." He murmured, and gingerly brushed his warm fingers down her bare arm, gently grazing her soft skin.

"I-I'd hardly call this a… reward, Potter." Lily stuttered, shivering at the skin contact.

But she didn't move away. She didn't _want_ to move away, because as much as she hated to admit it, she enjoyed having James around sometimes. She enjoyed the fire that lit her skin, following the trail that his fingers left.

"Ahh, but you don't move away, Lily." James chuckled, his deep voice echoing slightly in the empty room. Lily blushed at how spot-on his statement was. James, noticing the slight redness that had taken over the Head Girl's cheeks, smirked inwardly.

"Let's just… move on, Ja—Potter." Lily turned her head away from James in a feeble attempt to hide her evident blush.

"Alright, alright," James stifled an amused smirk.

**LILY'S POV**

"Let's just… move on, Ja—Potter." I turned away, hoping he wouldn't see my face. I felt more heat creep up onto my face, probably turning my face even more red in humiliation.

I almost said his first name! Of all the five years we've talked to each other, his first name had never slipped out from my lips. Yes, by instinct, I almost said it a few times (on _instinct_), but never did it pass my lips once. Until now.

Well, almost.

"Alright, alright," the corner of his lips twitched upwards, and I could only wince inwardly as humiliation dug deeper and deeper into me.

"So then, Lily, what ancient number divination methods could Arithmancy be compared to?" He asked me, his lips curved into a slight smile. His lips. They look so soft… and so… kissable—No! Bad Lily! Do NOT go there with James Potter.

Oh, right, he's expecting an answer from me. But the truth is, I'm stumped. I have _no_ clue, but I couldn't care _less_ about the damned history!

"Well I… I don't know." Oh no. What's he going to do to me this time? I don't want any more distractions! I just want to get this over with—!!

**NARRATOR'S POV**

Lily's thoughts were cut short as James' arm settled around her shoulder, permanently this time. He pulled her even closer to him, their shoulders now touching. His breath lightly fanned over her neck as he faced her.

Lily's muscles tightened at his touch, and she had to suppress her shudders from the heat of James' touches.

"Wrong answer." His voice dropped a whole octave, and Lily could feel the vibrations of his chest from where she sat, pressed against his broad shoulder.

"So then—" Lily's sentence was cut off when she somehow found herself pinned to the leather couch, James towering over her with a knee between her legs and his hand pressing her wrists into the cushions. Lily's breathing froze, and she could hear her heart pounding in her ears.

James lowered his head and pressed his lips to her forehead, brushing her maroon hair off of her face with his free hand. Lily bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to suppress the definite blush she felt coming on.

"The correct answer, my dear Lily, is Isopsephy." His breath tickled her face, and she could feel his erratic breathing caress her face.

"There are two methods," he continued, his face leaning closer and closer to Lily's with every word. "The Agrippan method… and the Chaldean method."

With that, James placed butterfly kisses on her temple, down her cheek to her jaws, on her nose, and on the corner of her lips. But never full on her lips.

"Ja-James…" Oops. The name finally slipped. James' breathing hitched as she breathed his name, but quickly recovered. His hand freed Lily's wrists, and he pushed himself so that he sat up straight on the couch again, pulling Lily with him to help her up.

"Y-yeah, let's move on to the questions, shall we?" James let out a nervous chuckle, anticipating the inevitable slap to the face for touching her that intimately. He slightly scooted away, ready to raise his arms at any time to defend himself.

After a few moments, though, James realized that the slap never came. Lily was just sitting with her hands resting on her lap, staring at him. Staring at him with such intensity that made him want the slap more.

"Lily, I—mmph! Mm… mm…" James was cut off almost as soon as his lips started moving.

Lily pressed her lips harder against his, and moaned when she felt his warm hands wrap themselves tightly around her waist. Her hands flew into his hair, toying with stray strands at the back of his neck.

James pulled Lily closer to him, seating her comfortably on his lap as they continued their tongue battle.

Lily pulled away; the need for air finally coming into play. She slid off of James' lap, but before he could protest, she yanked on his tie and pulled him up with her. James crushed his lips to hers once again, and moaned when Lily's hands snaked around his neck, bringing him even closer. He stumbled forwards, not caring where they were going; he just wanted to be closer to Lily.

Soon, James felt his arm touch the cold stone of the wall. Lily gasped as she felt the cool, rough texture of the stone walls press against her neck lightly, and he took this opportunity to slip his tongue inside her cavern once again.

James pressed Lily harder against the dormitory wall, his lips still locked with hers, moving in perfect synchronization. He pulled himself towards her so that his body was completely flush with hers. Lily moaned at the feeling of the contours of his body press against hers, and her hands flew to his hair, her fingers entangling themselves in the silky, ebony locks. James' hands roamed her torso, slipping under her shirt every-so-often to touch her creamy skin. Their tongues continued their battle for domination, and neither noticed the portrait sliding open for a visitor.

"Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans—" McGonagall's eyes widened at the scene before her as she looked up from the end of the portrait hole leading to the Head dorms.

"MR. POTTER AND MS. EVANS!" She seethed, but neither Head student paid any attention; they were too preoccupied at the moment. "YOU TWO! WHAT ARE YOU DO—" She stopped her screaming as she felt a certain Headmaster's presence beside her.

Dumbledore chuckled in amusement, his sky-blue eyes twinkling with knowingness.

"I believe, Professor McGonagall, that you owe me five galleons."

WOW! This took me forever. Seven pages!! A new record for me! But how'd you guys like it?

So anyways, I'm sorry if some of the facts in here aren't true or whatever, I got a little lazy, so I didn't do that much research…

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